The Blind Meets The Brunette
by dariuscross
Summary: When a blind Richard Castle walks into the 12th precinct, Detective Beckett has no idea where he'll lead her (This is the first multi chapter I'm posting. Some chapters are long, some are short, I'm no doctor so there may be mistakes. As with all my stories this is AU and I don't own Castle, wish I did)
1. Chapter 1

Richard Castle, once a playboy party animal with frequent appearances on page six, once a best selling author of mystery novels, now a barely remembered blind man makes his way through the streets of New York.

His white cane moves smoothly in front of him, the GPS on his phone telling him to turn left so he does and walks straight into the twelvth precienct.

He pauses to ask the first officer he can find what floor homicide is, then makes his way into the elevator.

He smooths his finger over the braille numbers till he finds the number four then with a sigh he presses the button and waits.

* * *

The ride seems to take forever, but everything seems to when you're blind.

Once he hears the ding and the doors open his cane once again starts to move as he exits the elevator.

He carefully feels with his cane and finds a wall in front of him and to his right so he turns left.

He moves slowly, his cane clicking against desks until he hears someone startle and jump.

"My apologies for startling you. Are you a homicide detective?"

The woman at the desk studies the man beside her, his sunglasses and white cane explaining easily why this man is bumping around.

"Yes, my name is Detective Kate Beckett"

* * *

he extends his hand to shake hers, which she does graciously.

"I'm Rick Castle and I want to report a murder I heard take place earlier today. I called 911 but I'm afraid the dispatch believed it to be a crank call"

Kate looks up as her partner Kevin Ryan walks over with a chair and noisily sets it down behind Castle.

He reaches back and feels the arms before easing himself down with thanks.

Beckett is once again studying the man before her

"alright, what makes you think you heard a murder take place Mr. Castle?"

Castle fiddles with his cane a bit, all too used to being questioned about things.

"My neighbor Darcy, well she lives in the apartment a floor beneath me. She was going to take me out to find a birthday present for my daughter so I was out in the hall near her door. I heard loud yelling, the crashing of things breaking, her crying out in pain after a very audible slap. Then I heard two gun shots and smelled the odor of a recently fired gun. Then I heard her door slam and foot steps. Whoever it was noticed I'm blind I guess because he only stopped a moment then ran passed me and down the stairs. I tried to get into her apartment but he must have locked it when he left and she isn't answering her door or the phone. I think she's dead Detective Beckett... oh, he grabbed my arm before he noticed I was blind"

with this he slid off one arm of his coat with great difficulty to reveal a full hand print in blood on his left arm

"I felt something wet so I got my coat from upstairs before I came down in case it started to rain, to protect whatever is there"

* * *

Beckett wasn't sure what to make of his story, already planning on doing at least a wellness check until he revealed the bloody hand print

"Mr. Castle, I'm going to need you to stay where you're at. I'm going to call for our M.E. to come up here. She will either carefully cut the sleeve off your shirt or take the entire shirt, that will be up to her. So you know what's going on, the person who grabbed you left a bloody handprint on your arm. It could give us DNA and even fingerprints depending on the type of fabric"

Castle nodded a few times at that and finishes taking off his jacket

"I had thought as much, I knew that if he left a handprint there was a lot you could get from it. Came up in my research before I was blinded"

Beckett smiled a bit at his reference to his old life

"you did the right thing Mr. Castle, hold on a minute"

* * *

She called down to the morgue and got Lanie to come up to the bullpen, unwilling to expose anyone to Pearlmutter if at all possible.

"Okay Mr. Castle, while she makes her way up here what's the possible victim's name?"

Castle clears his throat a bit

"Please, call me Rick and her full name is Darcy Flemming, she moved here last year from Sacramento. She was an aspiring play actress, my mother was helping her with that. She worked at the Starbucks three blocks from the apartment complex to pay her bills. She lived in the third floor loft... the first two floors have various apartments but the third and fourth floors are open lofts. She's about five foot three, very slim I think she's under weight. my daughter told me she has black hair and brown eyes. This happened about two hours ago, it took me a while to get here. Is there anything else you need?"

* * *

Beckett just blinks as he takes her through every question she was going to ask without her having to ask at all

"Just a few Rick, how were you and Ms. Flemming aquainted?"

Castle signs a bit thinking it comes from his old rep

"she's a friend or... was a friend. She'd help me out if mother and alexis were busy or if I wanted to get gifts for them"

Beckett continued to write everything down as he said it

"alright, now do you know of anyone who would want to hurt her?"

Castle was quiet but obviously thinking with the way his brows furrowed together in thought

"her ex boyfriend, Travis Carmichael, had a pretty short temper and didn't take getting dumped well. Her boss Thomas Fields had been making unwanted inappropriate advances on her at work. There was a guy working in props at the play she was working on, I can't remember his name, but he got kicked off the play for grabbing her breasts one too many times. I can't think of anyone else, maybe the people in the play could help more. She was working on an off off off broadway version of a midsummer's night dream"

he cleared his throat a bit

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help"

* * *

Beckett wrote it all down then stopped mid word and stared at him

"Rick, you've led us to the victim, given us a time of death and description of the murder, supplied a bloody handprint for us to use to possibly identify the killer. Given us multiple sources where we can get more information and or suspects and finally you've supplied us with three suspects. Short of dragging the killer in hog tied I don't think there's more that you could have done"

Castle furrows his brows a bit thinking about all that then nods a bit

"if you think so, I'm happy to do whatever I can. Darcy was a very sweet woman"

With that he supplied the address for the building and stood up.

"Could you... could you let me know what happened? Don't worry I wont go to the press or anything I just... I want to know what happened to my friend. I'm on the fourth floor... also if you have more questions of course"

* * *

Beckett couldn't help but smile at his deep concern for his friend and hoping that the gun shots were just a warning and that she was just knocked out of something similar.

She watches as Lanie arrives and with skilled gentle hands cuts his sleeve up to the shoulder then carefully goes around his arm removing the sleeve.

Then gives his shoulder a squeeze in thanks before hurrying down to the lab.

Castle pulls his jacket back on and smiles a warm unknowingly charming smile at the Detective that makes her heart stop momentarily in her chest.

She pushes it aside and thanks him for coming in with assurances that they'd be checking on Darcy within the hour.

She watches as he leaves and once he's in the elevator she gets Ryan and Esposito headed over to the SoHo apartment complex to find out if a murder had indeed taken place.


	2. Chapter 2

Two hours later the crime scene is in full swing, Castle's out in the hall leaning on the wall out of the way frowning deeply cause from what he can hear he knows he was right and he hopes that it was fast.

His head tips up when he hears high heels approaching him

"Rick, why are you here instead of upstairs in your apartment?"

Beckett asks with a sympathetic voice. castle clears his throat a few times before he can talk

"It occured to me, that I'm really the only person she has to identify her. I... I know I can't touch her but I can give your M.E. identifying marks"

He just feels the raised eyebrow in this direction, he raises his hand and delicately touches her face to be sure

"not like that, ever since the accident... I see with my fingers"

He can feel her stiffen so he 'looks' quickly

"you have a mole on the left side of your face, just below your eye and a small scar that would be invisible to the naked eye near your right ear. You're also quite beautiful if I might say so" he offers her a warm smile

"my point is, those two marks would be enough for me to know that the person in front of me is you Detective Beckett. The same would be said for how I know Darcy is Darcy"

Beckett couldn't help but be impressed even if he did run his hand over her face when she's not really a touchy person, in the end she finds it odd that aside from the initial shock reaction she doesn't really mind it.

"Let me go get Lanie then, I'll be right back"

* * *

He waits against the wall out of the way for several minutes before he can hear Beckett's heels and another set of footsteps.

He tips his head up again

"Alright Rick, here's Lanie"

Castle nods in greeting to the M.E. then clears his throat

"okay, well first Darcy told me once that she has a tattoo on her left butt cheek. Smurfette flipping the bird if I recall. She also has a scar over her left eyebrow, barely there from a childhood accident. She never told me what it was. Her left ear is pierced three times her right only twice and she has two small warts that she was working on burning off with the over the counter freeze stuff. One on her right middle finger the other on her left elbow. Is that enough?"

Beckett and Lanie look at each other for a long moment before Lanie speaks up

"Boy that's more than enough, you're going to make this I.D. so easy I'll get an early lunch. Let me head back in and I'll take a look see"

Castle laughs softly at the M.E.'s enthusiasm then turns his face back to Beckett

"Tell me Detective... does it look like she died quickly?"

Beckett looked at him, knowing she's not supposed to give out information like this but deciding to give him enough to have peace of mind

"Yes, he shot her in the leg it looks like to stop her from running but the second shot was to her head. Lanie can't be a hundred percent until she gets her back to the morgue but she said it's highly likely that your friend was dead before she hit the floor"

Castle let out a held breath with a relieved sigh and nods

"Thank you Detective, I know crime scene details on active cases are hush hush so thank you for telling me. It's a relief to know that at the very least she didn't suffer"

He extends his hand to her and smiles when she takes the hand

"Let me know how it turns out Detective, somehow I just know you'll get your man"

Without waiting for a response he turns and starts making his way to the elevator, accidentally bumping into a few uni's and getting shoved with a few curses in his direction.

He lets out a resigned sigh at it all and gets in the elevator, his ears picking up Beckett reading the two rude uni's the riot act just as the doors of the elevator close.


	3. Chapter 3

A week later Beckett is standing outside the door to the loft, she waits a moment because of butterflies in her stomach at the idea of talking with him again.

She shakes her head at herself, chastising herself for being nervous about talking with her favorite author 's a detective not a teenage girl.

She swallows it down and knocks on the door.

After a minute or so the door opens and there stands Richard Castle

"Hello?" he asks then he smiles a bit catching the scent of her shampoo "ah Detective Beckett, come on in"

his hand smooths over the wall next to the door till he finds the light switch then turns it on before moving out of the way for her.

Beckett is confused but makes her way in

"How did you know it was me?"

He taps his nose a bit then helps her take her jacket off

"I noticed both times I talked to you that you smell like cherries and vanilla. You're the only person I've talked to recently with those two scents"

He feels around a moment then finds the coat rack and hangs her jacket on it.

She stares at him in awe for a long moment before talking again

"to be honest the fact that you could identify me that way never occurred to me. That's a very handy way of identifying people"

Castle shrugs then waves his hand as he makes his way over to the couch

"when you can't see anymore the other senses take over, it took me a while to refine it but I can recognize most people I talk to that way. Not that there's a lot of them"

Beckett sits next to him, her face confused as her reason for coming by gets forgotten.

"I thought you had a lot of friends Rick?"

Castle sighs heavily at that and sits quietly for a long minute

"Lets just say that you lose a lot more than your vision when you go blind. My girlfriend at the time didn't even wait for me to get out of the hospital before she jetted. After that one by one people stopped coming by. Now I get a call from my daughter every night, my mother stops by when she can, the doorman brings me my mail, the maid comes by twice a week and now that Darcy is gone that's all the human interaction I have"

This news hits Beckett like a bucket of ice water. 'how could anyone do that to someone they call their friend?' she thinks.

She reaches out and squeezes his hand gently

"I'm sorry Rick, truly. If people ditched out on you like that then they weren't really friends to begin with. If it's any help, we caught Darcy's killer. He confessed last night to get the death penalty off the table. It was her boss, she rejected his advances too often so he decided she'd either accept him or die. He pled for life in prison"

Castle turned his hand a bit so he can return the hand squeeze

"It helps to know that she's gotten justice. She didn't deserve to die like that, or at all for that matter"

Beckett squeezed his hand again now that he's holding her hand

"I agree with you there Rick"

* * *

With a smile they settle in for some idle conversation about things going on around town in the near future.

After an hour his cell rings, he pulls it out of his pocket and pushes a button.

The phone answered in a robotic voice 'Gina Cowell calling'

Castle grunted and spoke aloud "reject call" then pocketing the cell again.

"Ex wife and publisher, she keeps pressuring me to start writing again. It's not like I couldn't with the voice to text software that I own but... it's hard to find inspiration in the dark"

Beckett nods a bit then shaking her head at herself

"I understand how that could be difficult but I'm sure one day you'll find your inspiration again. You're too good of a writer to not"

Castle tips his head a bit, his blind eyes looking at her

"You've read my books?"

Beckett blushes hotly though he can't see it then clears her throat, contemplating her answer and finding herself willing to actually tell him the story

"Yeah I have, many times. My mom was a big fan, a BIG fan. She read all your books on the day they were released, got them all autographed by you, even drug me along sometimes. I was in my rebel stage, too cool to read the things my Mom read. Then I got a call while I was attending Stanford... January 9, 1999"

* * *

she pauses to take a shaky deep breath

"my parents were going out together, or at least we think that's what was going on. They were found in an alley wrapped in each others arms. Dad's throat had been slit, Mom had multiple stab wounds to her front. The police called it random gang violence"

she snorted with distaste and rubbed her thumb over his

"I dropped out of Stanford and came home to arrange everything. Once it was over I was packing their stuff up, deciding what to keep and what to donate when I came across your books. One still had her bookmark in it so I curled up and read it. It made me feel close to her, like she was there with me. After that I read them all and bought the new ones as they came out. Even today reading them is like a warm blanket and a bowl of chicken noodle soup on the days when a tough case has me down"

She sniffles a bit then smiles when his hand comes up and gently wipes away the tears on her cheeks

"No one has ever told me anything like that before, I'm honored and happy that my books brought you such comfort. I'm so sorry about your parents, I can't even imagine how it must feel"

He rests that hand on her cheek and caresses a little

"I'm sure they're proud of you, wherever they are. From what google told me about you you're one badass detective, the best in the nypd and that's no small thing"

Beckett laughs softly changing the subject with a smile

"Why am I not surprised that you googled me?"

Castle laughed softly at that

"Well I wanted to know who was investigating my friends murder. After a few articles I decided I'd bumped into the right desk"

That just makes Beckett laugh and blush hotly with a smile

"You have a lovely smile Kate, truly"

He says as he brushes his thumb along her cheek at the edge of her smile.

Beckett tucks her face down and blushes a bit more hotly before answering

"thank you Rick, it's been a while since anyone said anything like that to me"

Castle scoffs at that

"and people say I'm blind, who could miss that smile"

Beckett thinks a moment that she might faint from how hard she's blushing, but she still smiles that smile

"I don't know Rick but apparently they do. Anyway I need to get going, my shift starts in an hour"

she takes his hand and squeezes it with both hands

"Take care of yourself Rick"

Castle's heart begins to race at the idea of her leaving, this the most fun he's had in well over a year

"Can I see you again Kate? Maybe talk on the phone when you have some spare time? text?"

Without thinking about it her jaw drops in shock, making Castle laugh softly

"uh sure I'd like that, let me put my number into your phone and I'll put yours into mine"

He just nods and hands her his phone, after a few moments and a picture click it's complete.

"I put my name in as Kate Beckett instead of Detective, just so you know"

Castle smiles, leans over and kisses her cheek

"Thank you Kate, knowing makes it easier"

he caresses her cheek a bit more than reluctantly stands up and squeezes her hand

"Lets get you to work before the bad guys get away shall we?"

He grins a glorious grin at her which in turn makes her grin too

"Sounds like a plan Rick"

She tugs on his hand a bit and moves over to the door, releasing his hand when she puts her jacket on

"I'll call you soon okay?"

She says, her voice indicative that she means it

"I'll be waiting in eager anticipation"

He kisses her cheek again then a few moments later she's gone.

Once he has the door closed and the light off he bounces a little in glee then heads back to the couch to listen to the tv.


	4. Chapter 4

It's been two weeks since he's gotten to spend any in person time with Beckett, the sadness from it only eased by the fact that they spend at least two hours a night talking on the phone even when she's at work.

Today she has a surprise for her and her friends, glad for his keen hearing so that he's heard how everyone on her team likes their coffee and what they like to snack on.

He stands outside the station holding a carrier containing five drinks and a bag of snack baggies.

He pulls out his phone and smiles sending a text for her to grab Lanie and he'll be right up then slowly but steadily he makes his way into the building.

By the time he gets to the fourth floor everyone is already there.

He grins hearing everyone and makes his way to her desk

"Good morning detective Beckett, Lanie, Esposito and Ryan. Lets see here ..."

he picks up each coffee and hands it to the right person by scent alone including a peppermint tea for Lanie since she doesn't like coffee.

Then sniffing the paper baggie he hands out pastries to everyone, lastly he carefully sifts through the bag and gives everyone their favorite candy for later.

"Did I miss anything?"

His head turning this way and that feeling eyes on him as everyone stares in shock

"Uh... hello?"

Beckett is the first to snap out of it she stands up and kisses his cheek softly

"Thank you Rick, this was very nice of you"

His head turns this way and that as everyone echos her thanks, which makes him grin

"you're welcome, I'm all too happy to help. I'm also making a donation to the station. I couldn't help but overhear people complaining about the coffee here so I ordered a cappuccino maker to be delivered later today. I hope it solves the coffee problem"

again he's met with silence, he blinks a few times then starts fiddling with his cane nervously.

The spell of silence is broken moments later by the Captain stepping out and starting to bark out orders assigning several homicides called in at the same time generally speaking.

* * *

Things moved fast after that, having wanted to spend a little time with Kate he tried to stand out of the way but due to the rush of other detectives and uni's moving around and taking assignments as Beckett hands them out he gets knocked over three times and slammed into the corner of Esposito's desk once, which unbeknownst to him cuts his arm enough to bleed good but far from life threatening.

He finally takes refuge in a conference room and sits down to wait for the action to slow down.

It's a half hour before Ryan checks in on him, finding the cut and sending Lanie in to fix him up.

An hour and four stitches later the cappuccino maker is set up and Esposito brings him a cup of coffee.

Lunch time comes and Castle orders two dozen pizza's to be delivered for the homicide department and smiles when it arrives and the room practically cheers.

Ryan managing to snag one of the boxes for Castle and when he delivers it Castle asks him to take one down to Lanie too.

After eating he carefully gets into the satchel he's been wearing and gets out his laptop and microphone.

After a few minutes he has the novel he's been working on for the last two weeks open, has the computer read back the last page.

When it's done he clears his throat and starts dictating the novel to pass the time.

* * *

Four hours pass seamlessly, he saves his work and closes the laptop.

It's only then that he notices someone is in the doorway cause he can hear them breathing.

"Hello?" He turns his head around and smiles at the voice that answers

"I see you've been working on a new book, why didn't you tell me?"

Beckett says as she moves over and sits with him

"Well, I'm not sure how good it's going to turn out. I didn't want to jinx myself since this is the first time I've tried since the accident"

Beckett smiles as she reaches over and strokes his cheek lightly

"you're an amazing author Rick, I'm sure it will be a best seller"

Castle blushes a few hues and looks down getting a hanky out of his pocket.

For the first time in her presence he takes his sunglasses off without thought and dries his face of the sweat that's accumulated from sitting in the warm room.

Beckett winces seeing the scarring around his eyes, all too aware of what would cause such a thing.

Only a flash grenade could do that and even then it's only if it's really close to the face.

She reaches out and lightly brushes a finger over the scarring.

Castle doesn't freeze at the touch, but he does turn his eyes to the floor knowing it's something he hasn't told her about yet.

He takes a deep breath, aware of Ryan and Esposito in the door way as he starts talking.

* * *

"I was in a mini mart in SoHo near my loft, it was the only place for miles that I could get these coffee flavored granola bars that Alexis likes. I was poking around to see if there was anything else I wanted when a guy in a ski mask pulled a gun, his friend following suit. They made the cashier open the register and hand over the money, then went person to person emptying our wallets of cash. I handed all but five over without question, it was enough they didn't care about the five. It was then that the police arrived outside and I got a real bad feeling in my gut that something bad was going to happen"

he pauses and takes a drink of his luke warm coffee then continues

"the robbers flipped out since there was only one door in and out. They started throwing us all down on the floor and aiming their guns at us. I did everything they asked without hesitation, did what we're always told to do in a hostage situation. Outside some rookie decided to play hero in hopes of a promotion. He didn't wait for orders he just pulled the pin and threw a flash grenade through the front window shattering the glass. The grenade landed a foot from my face then before I could react it went off. That was the last image I saw, I woke up in the hospital three days later blind. Doctors keep saying it's possible that my sight could return but it's been three years, if it was going to come back it would have by now. Alexis refuses to believe that though, keeps preparing things for the day my sight comes back"

he lets out a long sigh while he rubs his hands on his jeans.

"So, that's the story of how I went blind. Not as dramatic as I would have written it but what can you do"

Beckett smooths her hand over his cheek affectionately, strangely not ashamed of the tears silently trailing down her cheeks.

Even Ryan and Esposito are clearly affected as they look down.

"That really sucks bro, I hope Alexis is right for your sake" Esposito finally says  
"Yeah we'll be pulling for you Castle, don't give up. The human body is a weird thing" Ryan adds

Beckett smiles at the boys then looks at Castle while he puts his sunglasses back on

"This relationship may be new for us Rick, but I can say without question that I'll be here for you even if just on the phone. Strides are made every day in all areas of medicine. One of these days they'll find a solution for you, just hold onto the glimmer of hope okay?"

Castle just nods, hesitantly sure but he still nods

"You going to be okay in here? I need to finish a few things at my desk then we can get out of here"

Castle nods again with a smile

"I can do that, maybe take you out for a nice dinner after work. Get us a real date in"

The words making Beckett break out in a glowing grin, any fatigue she felt leaves her body

"I'd like that a lot Rick, just hang here and I'll finish up quick" S

he leans over and kisses his cheek and even gives him a little nuzzle to his cheek before moving out of the room, practically jogging to her desk with enthusiasm.


	5. Chapter 5

An hour later they were walking hand in hand down the sidewalks of New York.

Fingers laced, his cane moves smoothly in front of them with every step as naturally as breathing.

They're laughing and having a good time when a guy walks up to Beckett and they both stop

"Oh hey Kate! Damn you're looking fine as ever, how have you been?"

The man asks, completely ignoring Castle, which makes his brow go up.

Beckett squeezes Castle's hand gently and puts on her tolerating it voice

"Hi Clark, been good. Working, dating my boyfriend Rick here. Actually we have plans so if you'd excuse us"

Castle hears the man snort

"Kate, babe, ditch the blind dude and come out partying with me. I can show you a much better time"

Castle clears his throat, his voice taking a dark edge

"Hey buddy I'm blind not deaf or invisible, she's already given you your answer now shove off"

The guy snorts again and shoves Castle back

"Wasn't talking to you Stevie, like I was saying I know this great place that sells..."

his words are cut off as Castle's fist finds the side of his head knocking him out.

Castle shakes out his hand a bit then retakes his cane from where he rested it against his stomach and tugs her hand

"Come on Kate, just step over the rubbish. He'll wake up in a few minutes with a headache and a mild concussion to remind him to not move in on another man's girl"

he smirks a bit and tugs an astonished Beckett along with him.

"how?" she can't even form the question before he chuckles

"I did a little martial arts for the storm books, kept my upper body strength up as much as I could. As for hitting his head, with all his yakking it wasn't hard to pinpoint where it was"

he shrugs a bit and Beckett comes out of her shocked state and laughs.

"He's going to have a hell of a time explaining to his buddies how he got a concussion from a blind man. You're just full of surprises Rick"

* * *

They continued their walk and conversation until they made their way into a little Italian place.

Once they were seated he reached his hand across the table, with a little fumbling with only the pepper shaker for a casualty he takes her hands and squeezes

"You know Kate, these past few weeks have actually been the best dating experience I've ever had. To you I'm not the author, or the playboy millionaire, or the blind man, I'm just Rick and I want to thank you for that"

He grins at her brightly, her face is tucked down a bit as she grins and blushes

"You're not so bad yourself Rick. It's not hard to see you as just Rick because that's the side you've shown me since you first bumped into my desk"

Castle chuckles a bit and nods

"I suppose you're right, it's never occurred to me to try and be anything else or anyone else and I don't plan on starting now. I'm just me and you like me as me, so that's who I'll be"

With that said he releases one of her hands and feels her face till he finds her lips, then almost shyly he half stands as he leans over and gives her their first kiss.

A tender, affectionate meeting of their lips that lasts a few seconds longer than is generally considered polite in a restaurant. He stays close enough to feel her grin on his cheeks before he sits back down

"That was amazing Kate"

Beckett manages to let out a giggle for the first time since high school, her finger lightly twirling her hair a bit

"Yeah it was, maybe we can do that a little more of that after dinner back at your place"

The suggestion only makes his grin broaden and grow more bright

"I'd like that a lot Kate, I truly would"

Beckett picks up her wine glass as soon as the waiter puts it down and takes a sip

"So would I Rick"

* * *

They talk and laugh their way through dinner, the only interruptions being the waiter and her phone buzzing with texts as the boys at the station keep her up to date on the case.

It doesn't bother Castle, it's her job after all and it's how they met to begin with.

After each returned text he just smiles and rubs his thumb over hers to show her that he doesn't mind it at all.

Once they're done eating and the last of their wine is gone, Castle pays for the meal and they're once again outside on the sidewalks of New York headed to his loft in SoHo

"Today was the first time I met your friends, do you think they liked me?"

Castle asked, a little insecurity in his voice.

Beckett thought about it for a few moments before squeezing his hand

"Yeah I think they did, even if you did bribe them with food and coffee."

she laughed softly an hipped him just a tiny bit

"They kept talking to you after the introductions like you were just one of us. That means something with those two, especially Esposito. Don't get me wrong he's cordial, but he has to like you to talk to you more than needed"

This news makes Castle smile, he nods a few times

"I'm glad, it makes our relationship easier if you're friends like and accept me especially since you work with them"

Becketts brows meet a bit as she regards the man beside her

"you were really worried about it weren't you? Something like that has happened before"

Castle nods a bit then clears his throat

"It wasn't someone I was dating though. After the accident Alexis lost a lot of friends, some who stayed were cruel with their jokes. Life was hard for her at school because of me. Though I know it's not my fault it still hurts to know that I was the cause of such pain for her"

Beckett lets out a deep sigh that comes from deep in her chest

"That's just the mentality of teenagers though, anything that makes you different in any way is fair game. I'm sorry you both had to go through that"

* * *

He just smiles over at her and stays quiet for a block.

"She's actually been unhappy with me this past year. She was accepted to Stanford, her dream school but she was talking about going to Colombia or NYU instead so she could take care of me. She had worked so hard to get into Stanford... I wouldn't let her do it. Told her the only college I'd pay for was Stanford so she could live her dream. We talk almost daily but I know she's still mad at me for it"

Beckett watches his face while he talks and the sadness that's there when he speaks of the divide in his relationship with his daughter

"I can understand both yours and her points of view. Neither is right neither is wrong. You want what's best for her, she wants what's best for you. Things will smooth out Rick, the more she sees how well you're doing the less angry she'll be"

Castle stops in front of the elevator in his building, then leans down and kisses her lips softly a moment

"I hope you're right Kate, I'd die if I lost her"

Once in the elevator take takes his large hand in both of hers and squeezes

"You wont Rick, because come what may she knows that you love her and that will keep her from dissapearing on you"

Castle nods a few times, his face tilted down as he raises his hand and combs his fingers into her hair

"Time will tell I suppose, can't worry about what hasn't happened yet or it'll drive me insane"

She smiles at that and pulls his hand up, kissing his wrist softly

"you're right Rick, who knows what tomorrow will bring"

That said they slip into his loft and spend the rest of the night on the couch making out like teenagers, laughing and enjoying each others company.


	6. Chapter 6

The next few months pass quickly for Beckett and Castle.

Every work day he arrives between eight and eight fifteen with coffee, tea, breakfast and snacks for everyone.

If they're working a case he'll stay and chat for half hour or so dropping insight if he can that often leads to a big lead.

If there's no case he sits in a chair next to Beckett's desk talking to her and the boys until around noon when he heads home to wait for her.

She was actually surprised at how quickly Castle had been welcomed into the fold.

A few days after first meeting them the boys had started treating him like a brother and like one of their own.

Lanie even made sure to crawl out of the morgue every day so she'd get a chance to get her tea and visit a little.

One night a week they all started meeting up at Castle's loft to have dinner and hang out, trade stories and just overall have a good time.

Beckett and Castle's relationship was growing stronger day by day also.

They still hadn't made love even though they were crawling towards the four month mark, but they both wanted to take it slow even if she did practically live with him at this point.

All her clothes were at his place and she hadn't seen the inside of her apartment in weeks.

In fact she was pretty sure her take out colony in her fridge should take over paying her rent.

* * *

Things were great until the day they had a case that resulted in a detective from robbery joining the team.

Castle had gotten up to use the mens room and when he returned he found Detective Tom Demming in his chair flirting shamelessly with Beckett, who was ignoring him for the most part with a series of detached 'mmhmm's'.

Castle stopped next to the chair and spoke quite politely at first

"Excuse me detective, but you appear to be in my chair"

Demming just glanced at him and ignored him.

When he started flirting with Beckett again Castle gave him a good minute before going from polite to irritated

"I'll ask you again Detective, to remove yourself from my chair so I can sit down"

Demming stops and looks at him again then snorts

"go get another chair blind boy"

at this the boys get more than a little on edge, Beckett herself gripping her pen so tight her knuckles are white.

Castle, to his credit, stays externally calm but inside he's broiling mad.

With a deceptive calm he reaches down and grabs Demmings shirt in a fist and yanks him out of the chair since he's distracted and shoving him far enough so he can stand in front of the chair

"Alright then I'll be blunt, remove your ass from my chair and stay out of it. I know exactly who you are and you have no place here"

His voice taking an edge of ice that makes the boys and Beckett pause.

Demming smirks

"Figured it out did you? What are you going to do about it Castle? They didn't fire me three years ago, they aren't going to do shit to me now. In fact I got a medal of valor for throwing that flash bang, did you know that? Getting your crappy books off the shelves and your face off page six was just the icing on the cake"

Castle's growling deeply, his hand gripping his cane so tight it's shaking.

Beckett stands up and turns to Demming with a look of pure fury in her eyes, the boys not far behind.

Just as all hell is about to break loose, Captain Montgomery steps out of his office and shouts for everyone to stand down.

* * *

The Captain, pissed off himself, walks over and stands in front of the smirking Demming.

"I know who you are and what you've done boy. I know you getting that medal was purely political and if there hadn't been others in that mini mart that you would have been fired on the spot. I also know that you have been repeatedly reprimanded for boasting about what you did and that you've been told that if you get one more that you're fired. I expect your resignation on my desk in an hour Mr. Demming"

The Captain turns without sparing Demming a second look and slams his door to his office after he enters.

Demmings face is pale, his eyes pissed off beyond reason.

Without a word or warning he takes two steps and decks Castle so hard that his head slams against the murder board hard enough to leave blood then on the way down his head slams into the crossbar.

He is absolutely unconscious before he's even close to the floor and lays there in a growing puddle of blood.

Espo and Ryan fly at Demming and within moments the entire room is surrounding them allowing the boys to beat the bloody shit out of Demming without the cameras seeing a thing and dozens of witnesses to say he was resisting arrest.

Beckett on the other hand, flew over to Castle and was near tears when she rolled him over, part of his scalp is peeled back and there's an obvious crack in his skull as well as a large dent in the bone.

She has no idea what to do so she texts Lanie and screams for someone to get ESU.

All she can figure to do is keep track of his breathing and heart rate, which are both low but still there.

* * *

Lanie was there within minutes and took over keeping track of his vitals and doing what she could to slow the bleeding leaving Kate to squeeze his hand and whisper softly in his ear to please not leave her.

By the time ESU gets there she's in near hysterics because he's completely non responsive to stimuli.

Lanie holds her back when ESU wheels him out reminding her she can't leave until she gives her incident report and that he'll be in surgery for a while in any case.

With that her fight drains away and leaves her trembling against Lanie, crying harder than she ever has before into her shoulder while they stay kneeled in a pool of Castle's blood.

It takes the boys, the captain and Lanie to get her moved into a more private room.

Once she's out of tears she sits practically catatonic, not reacting at all even when Lanie gets her spare clothes out of her locker and changes her into them.

The captain takes pity and her incident report is done up with a series of yes no questions that she manages to answer but only just barely then has Lanie and Espo sign in her stead listed as witnesses to her statement.

* * *

By late afternoon they were all in the surgical waiting room awaiting word on his condition.

Beckett is still practically catatonic, staring into nothing at the floor.

She only blinks when Martha and Alexis rush in, Martha was at the airport picking up Alexis for a surprise weekend visit when they got word.

"What happened to my Dad? Where's Kate?"

The panic'd red head practically steamrolls over Espo and rushes to Kate hugging her tight tho they've never met in person

"Kate, what happened?"

It took a moment but Beckett snapped out of it, she knew she had to be strong for Alexis.

They'd become close from talking over the phone these past months and she knows how this must be killing her inside.

Her voice is rough with emotion as she answers

"We had a case that involved a robbery so they sent a guy up from the third floor to assist in the case. Your father got up to use the mens room before the guy arrived. When he did arrive he plopped himself down in your father's chair and without even asking about the case started flirting with me. I ignored him, he practically asked me what sign I was. When your father returned he politely asked him to move, but was ignored. He asked again, mostly polite and the detective made a uncalled for comment to him. Your father got a little mad and pulled him out of the chair and announced that he knew who he was and told him to leave. The detective then started boasting about being the officer that threw the flash bang..."

she pauses hearing Alexis gasp so she knows she doesn't need to fill in that gap. She swallows, tears now traveling down her cheeks

"We were about to mangle him when the captain came out and told us to stand down. He then tore the detective a new one and ordered his resignation. After that it all happened so fast... he hit your father hard, he fell and first hit his head on our white board then again on the cross bar as he fell. He... had a crack in his skull and a dent... we don't know how he's doing we haven't been given an update yet..."

Her bloodshot eyes look up at Alexis, who's eyes now match their faces covered in tears

"I swear to you Alexis, if I had even a moment to react I would have protected your father with all that I have... it just happened so fast"

her voice cracks and her voice fails her, Alexis hugs her tight and whispers in her ear

"I know Kate, I know, I don't blame you for this. In fact I owe you thanks, these past months you've given me back my father. He'll pull through this, he has to"

Beckett just nods and returns her hugs, neither of them looking like they're going to let go any time soon.

* * *

The captain stands to the side giving comfort to Martha, Lanie and Espo sit hand in hand in chairs, Ryan and Jenny are curled up on the small couch, various other members of the twelfth stand around anxiously, all of them waiting for news on their friend.

It was a few more hours before a short man in scrubs and a lab coat walks out into the waiting room

"Family of Richard Castle?"

The entire room stands up and piles in front of the doctor, Beckett Alexis and Martha in the front.

The doctor stammers a bit nervously then clears his throat

"Mr. Castle has suffered what appears to be one massive blunt force injury to the left side of his face, then multiple blunt force injuries to the front of his skull that resulted in a crack forming in the bone. Under normal circumstances such a thing would be dangerous, in this case it may have saved his life. The blow caused the body to create swelling around his brain that resulted in a large quantity of extra fluid that if not drained would put pressure on his brain and cause either brain damage or brain death. However, the crack enabled the excess fluid to overflow out of it while he was being prepped for surgery and also an entrance for us to put the drainage tube that we would otherwise have to remove a small circle of skull to insert. he is not out of the woods though, he has a severe concussion and is presently in a comatose state. We do know that he has no signs of brain damage, in fact his brain is showing an unusually high amount of activity. Our specialists can only speculate on a reason but it's thought that it is likely that he is just dreaming. He also suffered a peeling of his scalp that resulted in him losing a large quantity of blood. We've given him transfusions, sealed the crack in his skull except for where the drainage tube is, and have sewn his scalp back into place. In the end, aside from his previous condition of being blind, we expect him to make a full recovery once his brain heals from the bruising caused when he was hit. Are there any questions?"

he looks around then motions to the three in the front

"Alright then, I'll take you back so you can sit with him. Everyone else will have to start filtering in to visit starting in the morning once he's had time to rest"

Martha thanks everyone for staying with them and kisses some cheeks then moves with Alexis and Beckett to his room. None of them are prepared even a little for what they see when they step inside his room.

He lays sleeping in his hospital bed looking so small and weak.

His face and head is pretty much a solid bruise.

There's a tube coming out of his forehead draining excess fluid out of the brain cavity and he's hooked up to every machine imaginable except for a respirator which he blissfully doesn't require.

* * *

After an hour of sitting Kate offers to take the first shift, so Martha and Alexis curl up on the couch in the room and reluctantly fall into an uneasy sleep.

Beckett sits at his bedside and squeezes his hand, her voice soft

"I'm so sorry Rick, if I had known..."she lets out a heavy sigh

"I know what you'd be saying right now. Don't blame myself, Demming did this not me, I couldn't have done anything... but I still feel guilty Rick. I should have made him leave when he started flirting instead of asking about the case but I figured I'd ignore him and let him get the idea I wasn't interested out of the gate so we could just proceed with the investigation. The crazy thing is Rick, I was really turned on by the way you yanked him out of your chair, until he opened his mouth and poured glacial water on the room. I should have researched and found out who he was when you told us about the robbery, so we knew who to refuse onto our floor. But I didn't think of it, we all kinda assumed he was fired or put on permanent patrol over it. None of us expected this"

She lifts his hand and kisses the back of it before rubbing her cheek lightly over it

"they say your brain is unusually active, didn't have the heart to tell them it's probably like that all the time with your overactive least that's what I hope it is"

at this point the back of his hand is just pressing into her cheek

"you just rest Rick, get all the sleep you need to heal then come back to me... come back to all of us. We're not going to leave you, we'll be right here"

She watches his motionless face for a moment then closes her eyes and settles in to keep watch through the night.


	7. Chapter 7

They settle into a routine over the coming week.

Beckett sits with him over night while Martha and Alexis either sleep on the couch or go home to sleep.

When they arrive in the morning Kate gets up, takes a shower, changes clothes, then sleeps as much as she can in the spare bed in the room.

Throughout the day people slip in to visit with him from the twelfth and when visiting hours are over Martha wakes Beckett up if she isn't already awake and heads out for the night.

On the seventh day Beckett is walking out of the bathroom after answering nature to see Castle not only awake but moving his hand in front of his face curiously, but all she registers is awake.

She's almost sobbing with joy as she lunges across the room

"RICK! YOU'RE AWAKE!"

she says in a loud whisper, her hands caressing over his cheeks as she leans down and gives him a quick kiss.

He returns the kiss and smiles

"Yeah I am, what happened? Last thing I remember is Demming admitting what he did then waking up here"

Beckett's eyes fill with tears, she swallows a rock but recounts what happened to him including that Demming is being charged with first degree assault with intent to render bodily harm.

When she's done she strokes his cheek

"How are you feeling Rick?"

Castle thinks a moment on how to respond to this then smiles a little

"well my head is hurting like a son of a bitch but for the first time in three years I'm seeing light and shadows"

Beckett's breath catches, her eyes opening wider as she starts punching the nurse button

"is it just shadows or can you make anything out?"

Castles brows meet as he tries to focus then shakes his head

"Just shadows, but that's better than nothing"

* * *

The nurse hears what's going on from the doorway and is immediately on the phone calling doctors and specialists.

Beckett barely gets another good kiss in before she has to leave, she calls out that she'll call everyone then rushes over to the waiting room and starts doing just that.

Things are insane for the next twelve hours as Castle is run around for a whole slew of tests ranging from basic eye exam all the way through mri and ct scans.

Finally after the twelve hours Castle, Beckett, Martha and Alexis are sitting around listening to the doctor talk

"Well what appears to have happened, or at least our best educated guess, is that there was a small blood clot in the artery that supplies blood to the optical nerves, cornea, iris, so on and so forth that was preventing enough blood flow to the eyes to sustain sight. The blow to your head a week ago appears to have broken said clot loose so that blood flow may return. We've put you on blood thinners for the time being and agents that will dissolve any other blood clots that remain. I am optimistic that your eyesight will return, how much of it is unknown but it is likely that you will require glasses at the end of this"

Everyone is trying to keep their excitement reigned in but the joy in their eyes is unmistakable.

Castle finds his voice after several swallows

"Doc after three years in the dark I don't care if I need glasses or not so long as I can see"

The doctor smiles at him and nods

"I imagine so Mr. Castle, unfortunately there's no time table on how long it will take for eye sight to return. Just try to rest them as much as you can and try not to force it. We're doing all we can to help, the rest is on your bodies ability to heal"

After waiting a minute for further questions the doctor takes his leave.

As soon as the door closes Alexis lets out a happy squeal and Beckett gives him one hell of a kiss.

Castle grins at it all

"Wouldn't that asshole Demming be pissed off to know that his little stunt would end up being the catalyst for getting my sight back?"

Beckett can't help but smirk

"Oh be sure Rick, once you're sight has returned we're going to pay Mr. Demming a visit to rub his nose in it, he deserves no less"

Castle grins wickedly

"Evil woman, I like it"

He wiggles his eyebrow then hugs Alexis as soon as she gets enough control to do it without pouncing on him.


	8. Chapter 8

A month later Castle walks into the twelfth to roaring applause on the homicide floor.

He blushes hotly and adjusts his glasses a bit, humbly thanking everyone for support these past five weeks.

He gets regular hugs from all the female detectives and man hugs from the men, last but not least Beckett walks over and gives him a big hug and kiss

"Hey there handsome, funny running into you here"

Castle grins at her and gazes into her eyes, something he never thought he'd get to do so he does it as often as he can

"Hey there beautiful, I don't think I'll ever tire of gazing at you"

Beckett blushes hotly and leads her back to her desk where he sits down and crosses his legs

"Did the captain tell you the good news?"

Beckett raises her eyebrow at Castle and glances over at the Captain's door

"No, what's going on?"

Castle laces his fingers on his knee with a grin

"Well, it appears that everyone missed me around here so the Captain has arranged for me to be a civilian investigator and consultant to the twelfth precinct, assigned specifically to be the fourth man on your team"

He grins as broadly as possible, which makes Beckett grin with as infectious as it is

"I signed all the paperwork yesterday while you guys were out chasing down your lead. I also have a carry permit that I qualified for down at the range and a bullet proof vest. So our wish to spend more time together has come true, aint it great?"

Beckett tries to put on a neutral face but fails miserably as she leans over and gives him a quick kiss

"Yeah it is, but we wont be able to do any more of that while at the station or at crime scenes from now on. But we'll survive"

Castle takes her hand and squeezes

"Yeah we will. I survived getting my skull cracked and caved in, I think I can survive not kissing you until we're in elevators or out of sight"

He smirks at that making Beckett do her patented eye roll then settles in to work on his first case as an official consultant for the nypd


End file.
